AUTOMAKERS
US deal creates barriers
Unions at South Korea’s two largest automakers, Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, say plans to revise a free-trade deal with the US involve concessions that would prevent local automakers from entering the fast-growing US pick-up truck market. Hyundai’s labor union yesterday said that the South Korean government gave in to US President Donald Trump at a time when the US market represents big opportunities. Kia’s labor union said it shares that view. Hyundai said in a statement that it hoped the two governments would work together to defuse trade tensions. South Korea and the US agreed to push back the earlier agreed-to elimination of import tariffs on pick-up trucks by 20 years to 2041.
CHEMICALS
Akzo Nobel to sell unit
Akzo Nobel NV is selling its specialty chemicals unit to US private equity firm Carlyle Group for 10.1 billion euros (US$12.5 billion) in a deal set to transform the Dutch company into a supplier of paints and coatings, chief executive officer Thierry Vanlancker said yesterday. Carlyle and Singapore sovereign-wealth partner GIC edged out rivals by agreeing to keep the business intact and giving assurances on workers’ salaries and benefits. “Different bids had different dimensions,” Vanlancker said. “Carlyle saw it as a strong business as a whole.” The sale caps a turbulent period for the Dutch manufacturer marked by a US$29 billion hostile takeover attempt last year by rival PPG Industries Inc and the attention of activist investor Elliott Management. Vanlancker, who sought to keep Akzo Nobel’s future in its own hands, will now have to make good on ambitious financial targets set for 2020.
RETAIL
Amazon targets France
Amazon.com Inc is taking aim at France, securing a delivery deal in Paris with Casino Guichard Perrachon SA that shakes up one of Europe’s most competitive grocery markets. Items from Casino’s Monoprix stores are to be sold via the Amazon Prime Now app in the French capital and the surrounding region, the companies said on Monday. The move comes as Amazon pushes further into the food business in Europe and as price competition among Casino, Carrefour SA and family-owned Leclerc heats up in France. Casino’s deal with Amazon is a “very defensive move,” aimed at protecting Monoprix from Leclerc, Fabienne Caron, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux, said in a note to clients.
BANKING
Deutsche Bank tensions rise
Deutsche Bank AG is considering candidates to potentially replace chief executive officer John Cryan amid heightened tensions between him and Supervisory Board chairman Paul Achleitner, the Times of London reported without saying where it got the information. The bank approached Richard Gnodde, the head of Goldman Sachs Group Inc’s international operations, but he is thought to have spurned the overture, the newspaper said. Deutsche Bank also considered UniCredit SpA CEO Jean Pierre Mustier and Standard Chartered PLC CEO Bill Winters, according to the report. “Cryan may be a good person, but he’s not the right guy on top of Deutsche Bank,” said Stefan Mueller, CEO of the German Institute for Asset and Equity Allocation and Valuation in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Still, “I think the main problem at Deutsche Bank is Paul Achleitner, he implemented all these CEOs in the last years.”
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
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